West Brom: Ideye must score like Osaze

Super Eagles forward Brown Ideye will not only need to meet but surpass the standard set at West Brom by compatriot and former ace of the club Osaze Odemwingie.

West Brom coach Alan Irvine, who made the submission, confessed that he has never watched Ideye play live but expressed hope that the former Dynamo Kiev striker, who crossed over to The Hawthorns for a whooping £10million, would live up to expectation.

Irvine is heading into his first Premier League season as a coach following his appointment in June and he noted with delight that Odemwingie, now at Stoke City, scored a record 30 goals for the side before bidding them goodbye in 2013.

“It would be fantastic if he could have the same impact as Odemwingie did,” the 56-year-old said.

“I don’t know much about Brown Ideye – I’ve not seen him live, but people we trust have done.

“It’s not necessarily something that is detrimental to me not to have seen him live, though ideally I would like to because that’s how I like to do my work. “But we’ve done our research on him and what we have done is found decent players in the past in this way,”

If things work out well for 25-year-old Ideye, who has made 24 appearances for the Super Eagles scoring five goals in the bargain, surpassing Odemwingie’s record at West Brom will not be a problem. The former Ocean Boys and Sochaux ace scored 33 goals for Dynamo Kievin in 74 appearances between 2011 and 2014.

West Brom will be the fourth international club Ideye will be playing for having played for Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax, Sochaux and Dynamo Kiev.